


Courage, Power, and Wisdom

by Onlymostydead



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, Memories, Pre-Calamity, Zelda has the whole Triforce, abstract poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 22:03:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17353430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: Looking back on what he remembers of the past, what he remembers of Zelda, Link can see the the three different traits from the different Springs of the Goddess in her: courage like lightning, power like fire, and wisdom like ice.





	Courage, Power, and Wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this up over a year ago, and wanted to re-visit it, adding these snapshots of memories.

Courage.

Courage is the spark that brings people to life, it's the adrenaline in your veins forcing you to move. It pushes forward and sends waves outward- urging others to follow in its wake. It strikes at a moments notice- filling a person with its impossible strength and will.

Courage is electricity- striking in it's purest form.

Zelda's voice seems to scald and burn every time she bites a comment or remark back at Link, as if she was a thundercloud sending bolts of lightning to the ground. He was angered by it at first, but as she warned up to him... It stopped. The sky cleared, and her eyes seemed soft once more. He learned that she was afraid of him, of what he was able to do. So she pushed him away, because she had been afraid.

But she wasn't afraid anymore.

Anyone who could shut off their emotions like that terrified her, she said, which almost made Link laugh because she didn't know that she did the same thing. He would be with her when her father, the King, came to check in with her, and all the emotion would drain out of her body. All that was left was that metallic solidity of her face, the lightning strikes of her voice.  
It came up other times, too. When the group was traveling together and someone disagreed with her. When she haggled with merchants over their prices.

Zelda was bold and brave. Link knew it better than he ever did when, upon reaching the end, when everything else was gone, she grasped a sword in her hand. 

And when his vision went black, the last thing he saw was her pushing him out of the way, striking first so that he might not take the guardian's blow.

Light shot from her electric fingertips.

***

Power.

Power is ever present in it's heat- comforting to those who have it while none beneath survive the burns. It destroys all in its wake- forcing them to the ground. It helps you at first before it becomes uncomfortable, then harmful as time wears your wax thin.

Power is fire- burning all it touches.

"My father..." Zelda began, her voice catching in her throat. "He controls almost everything I do, these days."

Link frowned, scooting in closer to the fire. It was a cold night, and he couldn't quite shake the chill in his bones.

She shook her head. "I hate it. All I want to do is go and be free... I understand that he's just trying to keep me safe, to keep Hyrule safe, but it's become... Stifling."

The light reflected off her face gave her features an ethereal glow, her eyes dancing wth firelight.

"And you, my Appointed Knight." She scoffed at the title, but not without a little smile, shoving his arm gently. "Started out as a reminder of the control he has over me. I hated you because, well... You had the sword. You were the one with the visible power, the one who could actually do something."

The bitter laugh that bubbled from her throat made Link want to cry, to hold her, something. Anything.

"I felt... Useless. Powerless."

Yet at the same time, entire nations quaked when they saw her, whispering about the Sacred Power, the Sealing Power of the Goddess Hylia. Many people didn't believe in her anymore, but they put their faith in Zelda, that her power would remain true... Even if she didn't see it.

That power burned Link's eyes as he fell to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness. A warm heat seemed to envelop him, burning his skin where Zelda touched.

***

Wisdom.

Wisdom is a beautiful thing- yet one that cannot be kept idle. Its strength is surprising at times of need- it's resilience holding firm until the very end. Slowly it wanes but through seasons it rebuilds- never truly dying away until its due time. If you don't have it it's a thing of beauty- if you have it you know it to be cold and lonely.

Watching Zelda in her study, it was like nothing else existed to her. Sometimes it was Guardian pieces, sometimes it was the Sheikah Slate, or even just thick volumes of text, but she always bent over them like her life depended on it. The way she gently brushed away dirt, fiddled with settings and buttons, or carefully turned each thin page... It was clear when watching her that this was important; her life's work laid out in a single room.

Link knew better than to go in. When she was in this space she was always alone, working on her things in solitude. Today, that apparently meant experimenting on mushrooms. A bundle of chillshrooms sat on her desk, one completely bisected. She had ground the other half in a mortar and pestle, until it became a blue, slightly chunky paste. Carefully, she scraped the paste into a metal bowl, which she held over a flame.

And waited.

Zelda stirred the mixture with a thin metal spoon, making sure it heated evenly. Thick gloves protected her other hand from the heat of the bowl, and she wore large goggles like many of the Sheikah researchers did in the field.   
At last, the mixture seemed to reach a point she was satisfied with, and she threw in a couple of other ingredients. The wings of a winterwing butterfly, ground up and stored in a vial. Grated bits of horn from a bokoblin. A small amount of very dark liquid from another vial.

Stirring and stirring, Zelda looked as calm as could be. This was where she belonged, her element. She glanced around now, though Link wasn't sure what for. Setting down the stirring spoon, she reached for a plant that sat dying in her windowsill.

It was a silent princess. He knew that from what she had told him, anyway.

She set down the pot, and blew out the candle producing her flame. Then, ever so slowly, she poured the mixture over the dying flower.

The moment the liquid hit a petal, it turned to ice. Soon the whole flower was like that: frozen solid, preserved perfectly.

Like Zelda herself, now, Link thought to himself. Trapped where she was, in the castle, preserved and yet wilted, frozen in place.

And it was Link's job to save her.

Wisdom is ice - cold as the grave.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at Supertinydom or Supertinywords, oneshot requests are open (I have two more slots), and comments are love! <3


End file.
